Exact Change No Longer Needed as New York and Massachusetts Switch to Automated Toll Booths

Exact change will no longer be necessary for those in New York and Massachusetts, as well as anyone traveling through either state.

Automated toll booths will be coming to the two states, meaning drivers in either location will no longer need to use cash at toll booths, according to media reports.

While drivers will still have to pay tolls, their license numbers will be recorded by sensors and cameras suspended over the highway, according to the CT Post. Drivers who have E-Z Pass will simply be automatically charged as they would at any other toll booth.

Due to the elimination of making cars stop to pay cash, automated toll booths are expected to improve traffic flow by reducing congestion, thereby decreasing commuting times in the process, according to the CT Post. The move follows a national trend of switching to automatic tolling.

The new totally electronic toll system is scheduled to start Oct. 28 on the Massachusetts Turnpike, News Channel 13 reported. The Tobin Memorial Bridge and all of the Boston tunnels are also expected to see the switch by then.

The system had already been in place for New York at the Henry Hudson Bridge, which connects the Bronx and northern Manhattan, the Wall Street Journal reported. The system had also been announced earlier this year for the Tappan Zee Bridge north of New York City.

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